HEALTH & FITNESS ARTICLES

Six Pack Abs

Getting Six Pack Abs

The principle behind six pack abs is to lose the body fat and strengthen the core muscles of the abdomen. This may sound simple but it's very difficult to put into action. It takes patience, time, and dedication to get six pack abs, but the end-effect justifies it all. Building muscle and losing fat requires dieting and daily exercising. Here are a few tips to help you realize your goal:

Losing fat

If you work out and get great abs without losing the fat, you will have a layer of fat covering up your hard-earned abs. Cardio workouts like running, dancing, rowing, bike riding, and jogging concentrate on increasing the heart rate and removing fat from the body.

Your meal pattern should be – heavy breakfast, followed by moderate lunch, and finally a small dinner. Skipping meals can have negative effects on the metabolism of the body, so ensure that you have your meals on time.

Lifting weights is also an effective way of losing fat. Cardiovascular exercises that aren't followed by weight training can harm the muscle growth, including those in the abs.

Keep your metabolism active by having a small meal in every 3-hour interval. Eating something regularly keeps the metabolism active and burning calories.

Increase your water intake. For a 150lb person, more than 2.2 liters of water daily should be taken. It's not necessary to drink water directly, and you could somewhat supplement it with juices or other water-rich beverages. Too much water can dilute the salts in your blood, and so you can also substitute it with energy drinks rich in potassium.

Whole grains should be preferred over refined grains when trying to lose weight.

Building muscle

Crunches and sit-ups: Lie flat on the floor and do crunches targeting the abdominal muscles. The major step while doing crunches is the initial jerk that you give to your abdomen when lifting your shoulders. Sit-ups can be done by either keeping weight on you or simply doing the steps. As the steps become easier, increase the weights.

The abdomen is a central part of the core structure of the body. The most efficient exercises for the abs are the ones which make the whole core muscles work overtime to support the spine. Deadlifts and squats are examples of this type of exercises.

The oblique muscles may not be important to work on in the beginning, but once you get into full flow of the workouts, you will need to start with the side or oblique muscles too. These muscles can be worked out by applying resistance pressure to the sides when doing any other exercise like sit-ups or squats. Just twist your body in the waist-up position and you are good to go.

Leg lifts, static holds, pull-ups, and other innovative ways to crunch, twist, and bend when doing daily affairs can also be helpful in getting the perfect six pack abs.

Working on your abs requires consistent effort over a course of time, and the results are well worth the effort that you make.